Five megaphones in a row grow steadily larger beside a faceless blazered figure, a trophy and a blurred camera.

Paper TalkThe High Road Herald

Howard Webb Williams Goal Remark Is Passed Between Five Websites, Each Louder, Without One New Fact

Philippa Crane · Media Editor18 October · Reading time: one pint

Howard Webb, chief refereeing officer at Pro Ref, told The Times that Neco Williams's goal, ruled out for handball in Spurs' draw at Forest on 5 September, should have stood, and five websites have since reported this, none of them adding anything to it.

Howard Webb has said that Neco Williams's goal against Tottenham Hotspur at the City Ground on 5 September should have been allowed to stand. This is the whole of the news. It was published on Sunday evening.

Speaking to The Times, the chief refereeing officer at Pro Ref asked whether it should really matter if the ball brushes Williams's arm. He added that the Premier League already has a slight tolerance for offside. These are the only two things he is reported to have said, and the Herald has now read them in five places.

At the first website, Webb speaks about VAR. At the second, he speaks out. By the third he has hit out, and by the fourth he has fired a broadside at those upstairs. The fifth describes a stunning intervention. Our correspondent confirms that the ball was still a bundled finish, that Peter Bankes still ruled it out, and that Sandro Tonali was still on the goal line.

It says here he's furious. Last one said he was concerned. Same bloke, same sentence.

The remark was read aloud at a kitchen table in Tottenham between 7:10am and 8:40am, by a man holding a mug in one hand and a phone in the other. A second reading was requested by his partner, who had been in the room throughout the first.

Each site carried the same paragraph about the table, the same line that Spurs have failed to win in six, and the same reminder that Coventry City visit on Monday at 8pm. One site added a gallery of two images. Neither image contained Howard Webb.

It is understood that no website contacted anybody. It is further understood that the original interview remains exactly the length it was on Sunday.

The toast has been replaced.

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A giant latch locks a stadium gate while a small player in a white shirt, seen from behind, pulls at it.

TransfersThe High Road Herald

Barcelona Plan Bergvall Move Says Spurs Web, So Supporter Fits Spring-Loaded Latch To Stadium Gate Until 2027

Barry Napier · Transfer Correspondent17 October · Reading time: one pint

Spurs Web reports, citing journalist Ekrem Konnur, that Barcelona, Juventus and Napoli are planning moves for Lucas Bergvall, whose new Tottenham contract carries a release clause valid from 2027, and that the club has no intention of selling.

A Tottenham man spent the early part of Saturday morning fitting a latch to a stadium gate, after reading that a release clause in Lucas Bergvall's contract becomes valid in 2027.

The report, published by Spurs Web, attributes the claim to the journalist Ekrem Konnur, who says Barcelona, Juventus and Napoli are planning moves for the midfielder. Juventus are said to want him in January, but only on loan.

The Herald understands the man read the word clause at approximately 7:40am and the word release at approximately 7:41am. He was at the hardware shop by nine.

If there's a release, there's got to be something to release from. I'm just making sure it's a decent something.

The latch, which is spring-loaded and roughly the size of a bin lid, was bolted to the gate nearest the ticket office. Our correspondent observed that it opens only from the inside, which the man described as "the whole point".

The report adds that, as things stand, Tottenham have no intention of selling the 20-year-old Sweden international. The man acknowledged this, then said it was "exactly what they'd say" and fitted a second bolt.

Bergvall declined to confirm or deny the clause when asked by Swedish media during the last international break. The man has taken this to mean the clause is real and also very secure.

He has marked a calendar for 2027 and is standing next to it.

The gate has not been opened since.

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